AFCON 2021 CHANGE TO JANUARY, IS A HUGE CATASTROPHE FOR LIVERPOOL; Says "JÜRGEN KLOPP".
Liverpool football club manager, "Jürgen Klopp" says that he is not happy with the 2021 African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) going back to January, as he sees it as a form of Catastrophe for the club.
The tournament which was meant to take place in June and July 2021, was changed following a meeting by the football federation of the host nation Cameroon, alongside with the representative from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the organization president "Ahmad Ahmad".
The tournament which was meant to take place in June and July 2021, was changed following a meeting by the football federation of the host nation Cameroon, alongside with the representative from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the organization president "Ahmad Ahmad".
The 2019 edition of the AFCON, was held from 21 June to 19 July 2019, as per the decision of the CAF Executive Committee to move the Africa Cup of Nations from January/February to June/July for the first time. It was also the first Africa Cup of Nations expanded from 16 to 24 teams.
Due to the unfavorable weather conditions during the period initially scheduled, the competition will now be played in Cameroon from 9 January to 6 February 2021.
The decision to change the date for the competition did not go down well with Liverpool's boss Klopp, because Liverpool would be without their key players at the time which are Egyptian Mo Salah, Senegalese and current African best player Sadio Mane, and Guinean Midfielder Naby Keita.
Jürgen Klopp speaking in a press conference on Friday says;
The qualification series of the 2021 AFCON competition, begins in August 2020 with 52 teams, and 24 teams will eventually qualify to play in the final tournament, including Cameroon who gets automatic qualification as the host nation.
Due to the unfavorable weather conditions during the period initially scheduled, the competition will now be played in Cameroon from 9 January to 6 February 2021.
The decision to change the date for the competition did not go down well with Liverpool's boss Klopp, because Liverpool would be without their key players at the time which are Egyptian Mo Salah, Senegalese and current African best player Sadio Mane, and Guinean Midfielder Naby Keita.
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| Salah, Keita, Mane... |
"I cannot disrespect the AFCON more, I like it a lot, and i watch the competition. Sensational players you see for the first time there, but not the last time because they show up in Europe and everywhere, all really interesting."
"AFCON going back to January will be a Catastrophe for us.
"On top of that we have absolutely no power, so if we did say: 'We don't let him go' the player is suspended.
"How is that possible that the company who pays the player can't decide if the player has to stay or not."
"It doesn't help African players. We won't sell Sadio Mane, Mo Salah or Naby Keita now because they have a tournament in January and February. No, but you have to make a decision about bringing in a player in the summer, becsuse you know you won't have them for 4-6weeks." The 52-year-old German laments.
"it’s an obvious problem that you play a tournament in the middle of the season. I get it, it makes more sense for Africa to play it in our winter when the weather is better for them, I get that. The only problem is…a couple of things are not OK."
The qualification series of the 2021 AFCON competition, begins in August 2020 with 52 teams, and 24 teams will eventually qualify to play in the final tournament, including Cameroon who gets automatic qualification as the host nation.
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